3 Lovely days in Singapore, staying at Grand Mercure Roxy on the East Coast Road. At first glance Singapore appears to be one giant Disneyesque theme park – every blade of grass, every tree in place, evenly spaced with absolutely no rubbish anywhere. Enormous shiny high-end shopping malls and high-rise apartments. Somewhat soulless. Glad to report that, with a little scratching, there are also parts of the old Singapore still standing. We’ve found an area behind our hotel with a great hawker’s centre (meaning cheap local authentic food...

We have been visiting Chiang Mai for many years now and have stayed in different parts of the city, however, we much prefer the atmosphere and eclectic vibe of the Old City.
In the few days at the beginning of our trip back in June, we spent time wandering around the four quarters of the Old City, exploring and deciding which area we preferred to stay in. We have always favoured the area near the Sunday Walking Street Market and have stayed in guest houses there many times, however, we have been really surprised at the high numbers of...

Having spent a week and a bit back in Chiang Mai, the Wombats decided it was a good opportunity to take a trip to other local areas to see what was around.
Mrs Wombat did her research and we settled on a couple of destinations to investigate further, one of which we ruled out due to the fact that it would take a 4-5 hour mini van ride just to get there. We settled on Lamphun, a small town which is often overlooked by travellers, about 1/2 an hour from Chiang Mai. Mrs Wombat assured me it was a laid back town with many historical...

We had decided to head to Baan Tawai, which is a handicraft village, set about 40 minutes by car, out of the City. We have been there before and really enjoyed wandering around looking at tons of homewares, timber work, leather work and anything else you could possibly imagine. The last time we visited we bought some wooden homewares, but this visit was to search for some timber /teak indoor outdoor lights for our outdoor area and garden.
We headed off for breakfast and we were walking along a fairly good road, when without warning, I felt...

Well, we just landed on US soil a couple hours ago. Waiting for our final flight back to VA. After Koh Samet we went back to Bangkok for a third time and were there just long enough to...get tattoos! We got traditional Thai bamboo hand poked tattoos, both incorporating elephants and Thai text.
We've had a wonderful trip but are very happy to be heading home... it's been real! Thanks everyone for keeping up with us along the way!

We had seen and done all we wanted to do in Chiang Rai, in our final days Mrs Wombat decided to have a day out with elephants, and I was in two minds to go on a rafting expedition or a jungle trek, this gave the traveling wombats a couple of days of separation and a chance to explore our passions and after much deliberating visits to tour offices and talking with people I decided that on our final day in this city I would go trekking for one day, I found an informative tour agent, agreed on the trip, she checked that there was room and I...

Our last few trip days were spent on the island of Koh Samet. At this point, we really just wanted to relax and reflect. Got out on the water (Josh in a kayak and me on a paddleboard), saw a fire show, and spent quite a bit of time just staring at the ocean. Quick final trip back to Bangkok and then we board a plane home!

Anybody who knows me, would be well versed with my love of elephants. I am a massive supporter of Elephant Nature Park based in Chiang Mai and Mr Wombat and I have had numerous visits there, both together and separately. We first visited the sanctuary about 9 years ago and it has been wonderful to watch as the Park grows bigger and more successful every year. The founder, Lek Chalert is inspirational and ENP has become a juggernaut in the area of elephant rescue, rehabilitation and support.
However, I digress, as I have decided to support...

It's nearing the end of our time in Chiang Mai.
We got some city time in a couple days ago. Went for a long run in the eastern part of the city where Josh used to live! Then had lunch, visited Wat Phra Singh (the most well known temple inside the Wall), and went to a Khantoke dance performance. We had a Northern Thai dinner seated on the floor while watching traditional Thai dances on stage.
Yesterday we took a group tour out to Doi Inthanon National Park. We saw two very impressive waterfalls, walked around the top of the mountain, which...

After a good nights sleep at the hip, chic and new Sleeping Well Hostel - an $18 dollar room, (just a shoe box), we had a leisurely start to the day, enjoyed a delicious and Western breakfast and it was then time to head off to catch the bus to Chiang Rai.
We had established the night before, that there is a bus departing for Chiang Rai every 30 minutes, so we knew that time was not important. Our hostel host had told us the night before, that he could take us to the bus station in his car for 30TBH each, so we thought this would be a good...

Our last three days in Chiang Mai have been very exciting. We took a trek through downtown to change hotels and what a neat city this is...so much character!
The next day we visited Elephant Nature Park, one of many rescue camps for elephants where they are freed from their lives of abuse, rehabilitated, and given a chance to live an existence closer to how they would live in the wild. We fed them, watched them bathe and play, and walked among them. Then at night, we visited the Night Bazaar...ate awesome street food, watched Thai dancers,...

The first few days in Chiang Mai have been wonderful. We went for a run around the Old City which is still surrounded by a moat and the remnants of an ancient wall that was built in the early 1300's. The next day we hiked part way up Doi Suthep mountain on a trail called the Monk's Trail to the temple Wat Pha Lat, which is tucked away in very lush jungle. The trail gets it's namesake from the markers along the way, which are pieces of monk's robes tied to the trees, and from the people that regularly traverse it...yep, you guessed it,...